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The Witchcraft Sourcebook (Review)

To get straight to the point—any study of
historical witchcraft would be incomplete without The Witchcraft Sourcebook. Collecting documents which illustrate
the cultural understanding of witchcraft, the Sourcebook brings together artifacts from the ancient all the way
to the modern. Wide ranging in its focus, by the time one finishes this compact
collection, they will undoubtedly know a great deal more than when they began.

I
started this book with but the scantest information on historical witchcraft. I
knew that during the medieval and early modern period many innocent people were
accused, tortured, and burnt at the stake. I knew that religious frenzy and
paranoia drove the accusations, as well as to a degree ignorance. But beyond
these bare surmises, I had no clue as to the philosophic, theocratic, or social
dimension; the exact minutia of the witch-hunts, what constituted a witch and
so forth, all of that was a mystery to me. Now, at the end, although I am, obviously,
still no expert on these matters, I feel filled in on what transpired. I feel
informed.

This
sensation of understanding what happened came about thanks to the tight
organization of the Sourcebook.
Totaling eight sections with each section chronicling a specific topic
pertinent to witchcraft—whether it be the legalistic or artistic representation
of it—each section builds on what the previous section established. The end
result is that the reader is introduced to an idea’s very best offerings, while
using those texts to then build a narrative which frames each ensuing idea; so
though much is abridged, skimmed, and sacrificed in order so that the reader is
exposed to the most relevant documents, one nevertheless manages to end up with
a finely constructed platform for future study.

As
a survey, then, the Sourcebook cannot
cover everything, but it does carry the heavy hitters when it comes to what
witchcraft was as well as presenting those skeptics which tried to give
guidance to those fanatics clamoring for the blood of Satan. It includes
sections on how demonic possession was perceived in light of witchcraft in
general, but also dramatic and classical representations of witchcraft and how
such representations influenced public opinion. Though mostly focused on
Western Europe, Eastern Europe does feature on occasion with the end result
being a fairly level handed treatment of the vast material available.

What
many will find most handy in this book is its focus on gender. After all, as
one of its blurb’s says, of the more than one-hundred thousand people
persecuted for witchcraft in the three and a half century scare, many of those
persecuted were women. Needless to say, what this gross disproportion is seen,
one needs to investigate why so many women were attacked and why men were
largely ignored. The Sourcebook takes
up this investigative cause and provides the reader with the background
information necessary to understand why women were so targeted, as well as in
what manner men could, though not always, protect themselves from accusations.
Suffice it to say, it has to do with a Biblical hermeneutic and how patriarchy
functioned in rural communities.

Newcomers
will want to take note on how each section is prefaced with an introduction
clarifying the idea presented, while each chapter comes packed with an
additional introduction setting the time and place for the text and its author.
So as intimidating reading some of these texts may be when one has no
experience in understanding the ancient, medieval, and early modern epoch,
Editor Brian P. Levack fills one in on everything needed to understand the
context of each chapter and why each chapter is important to the idea explored.

To
conclude, yes, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who asked me where
to begin when researching historical witchcraft. Whether one simply wishes to
know a bit more about the period of the witch-hunts, or to better understand
the entire context before launching a protracted engagement with historical
witchcraft, the Sourcebook will help.
While it can get a bit weary reading chapter after chapter should one read
straight through, since the topic matter can blend together after a while, even
this is a hallmark of its rigorous construction, and should be enjoyed for its
handy intertextuality. All in all, I am glad I spent the time and money on this
digestible and fascinating history.

Popular Posts

Lately, I was browsing around online and found another handy resource for aspiring medievalists.

Enter, Western Michigan University's Medieval Institute!

The site has links to an extensive book shop, scholarly journals, as well as a free download. See below for links.

General listing: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medievalpress/
Index of titles available for purchase: http://www.wmich.edu/medievalpublications/all-titles
The 'Medieval Globe' book(s): http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medieval_globe/ (Click on title(s) for free download)

Okay, that is all for now. Sometime soon I think that I would like to organize all of my resource links so that I, as well as you, have a concrete listing of reliable resources. Until then, we shall have to make due.